Platform Analytics Advanced Refresh Requested Option

[Jaron Rainbolt]

Hello, 

When editing a report on a platform analytics dashboard, there's an option under advanced that reads "refresh requested".  From the reports I've looked at the value is always null.

Just wondering if anyone can explain what this option is/does.

Thank you in advance.

[wojasso]

Hi @JaronRainbolt

The refresh requested flag you see in the advanced properties is an internal field used by Platform Analytics to tell the aggregator that a widget’s data needs to be recalculated. You normally won’t see a value in that field unless the system has queued the widget for refresh.

• When you edit a dashboard report or change an indicator, breakdown or time series, the system sets refresh_requested to true on the underlying pa_widget record. During the next aggregation run the job picks up those flagged widgets, rebuilds their scores and then clears the flag.
• If you manually request a refresh using the “Request refresh” action (or call the Rebuild Performance Analytics Data UI action), the same flag is set so the aggregator knows to recalculate scores for that widget.
• You shouldn’t set this value yourself in the dashboard editor; leaving it null is correct. The aggregator will calculate and update your widgets on its regular schedule.

If you ever need to force a refresh for a widget via script you can set the flag like this:

var widgetGR = new GlideRecord('pa_widget');
if (widgetGR.get('your_widget_sys_id')) {
  widgetGR.refresh_requested = true;
  widgetGR.update();
}

The next Platform Analytics aggregation run will pick up the record, rebuild the snapshot and reset refresh_requested back to null.

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[Jaron Rainbolt · Accepted solution]

Thank you for that explanation, that is exactly what I was needing to know.